


The Break in the Storm

by EnraptureEnchanted



Series: Demigods between the pages [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Based on the book and the musical, Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), Doubt, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Making Up, Missing Scene, One Shot, Percy and Annabeth are figuring out their friendship, Prophecies, Prophecy, Short One Shot, Spoiler Alert - Freeform, Spoilers for book 1, Takes place during the Lightning Thief, The Lightning Thief Musical, They're in the Underworld, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnraptureEnchanted/pseuds/EnraptureEnchanted
Summary: The thought struck him. "How did you know where to find it?" His expression darkened, and all the blood drained from her face."I didn't!" She insisted, the sudden splurge of anxiety at being put on the spot not helping her case. "It was a hypothesis!"They continued to stare at her in disbelief. "Uh yes it was, stop looking at me like that!"She knew he doesn't believe her, because he opened his mouth later, brows furrowed and mouth stretched grimly.You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend."How badly did you want this quest anyway?"- - - - -OrAnnabeth finds the missing Master Bolt in Percy's backpack. For a brief moment, he doubts her.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson
Series: Demigods between the pages [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179845
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	The Break in the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this might get be a little confusing during the read so I'll explain  
> This story will be a sort of a merge of the Lightning Thief book and a scene that happened in the musical. It will be slightly au but can also count as a fix-it of sorts. I'll add more notes at the end of the fic to avoid spoilers (if you even want to know my thought process lol) so yee! Enjoy!

"Why would Kronos want my shoes anyway?" Percy wailed, looking towards the direction of the pit that they had assumed to be Tartarus.

Grover placed a hand on his shoulder, his face equally wrecked.

"They were really cool shoes!" He tried to reason. Percy just nodded his acceptance, as if that reason was excusable enough.

Annabeth, however, stood to the side. A thoughtful look rested on her face.

"Unless it wasn't the shoes it was after." She said, making a grab for Percy's backpack.

"What?" Percy attempted to step away from her sudden movement, but she just aimed a smack at his arm and made him obey. He allowed her to pull open the zip on his sack. "Do you think it wanted my deodorant?"

Annabeth made a strange gagging sound, as if she'd forgotten to breathe. For a moment he thought she found his deodorant repulsive, but soon discovered she was reacting to something else.

"That's Zeus' bolt!" Grover screamed, taking several steps away from them. Percy whirled around, surprised to find his friend's face lighted up in a bright cyan hue by the large cylinder object she held. The object flickered with electricity, and Percy could see Annabeth's curls perk up by the roots.

Packed with God-level electrical explosives, Chiron has said. He wasn't even the one holding it, yet he could feel its prickling power.

"Guys I didn't steal it, I swear!" Percy said when Annabeth practically tossed it to him as if she'd been burned.

Annabeth was exasperated, panicked, but she nodded, seeming to accept his answer and gave him her signature glare. He knew she was afraid. He'd been accused of having stolen it since he was claimed, and actually seeing him with it had really put things into a whole new perspective. Even Grover trembled because of him.

"Well then how did it get there?" She couldn't help herself from snapping.

"I don't know, I-" He fumbled, and she touched his elbow. He met her eyes, willing him to focus. Her expression was grim, but her cold intimidating eyes were the gentlest he'd seen. Percy took a breath, halfway to calming down when-

The thought struck him. "How did you know where to find it?" His expression darkened, and all the blood drained from her face.

"I didn't!" She insisted, the sudden splurge of anxiety at being put on the spot not helping her case. "It was a hypothesis!"

They continued to stare at her in disbelief. "Uh yes it was, stop looking at me like that!"

She knew he doesn't believe her, because he opened his mouth later, brows furrowed and mouth stretched grimly.

_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend._

"How badly did you want this quest anyway?"

Tears prickled at her eyes. She looked so close to tears Percy had to fight back an apology, but he needed an answer out of her. He needed reassurance, a reason to believe that it was definitely not her that would betray him. They went so far and went through so much together.

"N-not that bad." Her voice was low. She sounded so heartbroken, and Percy wished one of them would look away so he wouldn't have to watch her anguish.

Annabeth felt a tear slip down her cheek, the first she'd allowed free without aggressively wiping away like she had for the past few days.

He stared at her, gaze indiscernible. It was the most calculative she'd seen him throughout the entire quest, and she knew how truth was of such great importance that very moment. But Annabeth didn't have an answer. She had no idea how the bolt got there. She had a wild guess and rolled with it, knowing how magical objects were able to morph itself into anything, to which in this case the magic must've triggered the moment Kronos summoned it.

Even Annabeth knew over explaining could get her into deeper trouble. The last thing she wanted was to be left behind in Hades' kingdom because her presence became too risky for them. She found herself desperate for an answer, clutching at thin air for a solid excuse until they had the time to talk it out.

Briefly, she wondered if she was beyond begging. It would certainly wound her pride a bit, but it beats an unfortunate death by the jaws of Cerberus or the Lord of the Dead's own two hands.

Percy, however, didn't even consider leaving her behind. As he looked at her - _really looked at her_ \- and he would've been lying if the thought of her being the friend mentioned in the prophecy didn't feel like a punch to the gut. He had grown to trust and rely on her. Even before the quest started, she had been one of the most patient with him. She wanted him in her Capture the Flag team, cared for him every time he got hurt, even after finding out he was the son of Poseidon. She was also one of the few that weren't afraid to be near him for being a child of one of the big three.

She told him just didn't want him to mess up when she decided to come along. Percy was relieved; he didn't know it at the time, but he needed her intellect and strong will. There was the night they spent riding at the back of the truck to Las Vegas with some wild animals. The way she cut chewing gum out of the Zebra's mane when they were riding at the back of the animal transport truck. She was fuming with anger at such cruelty, but her hands remained gentle. That same night, she opened up to him for the first time. Later, Annabeth had told him that she would fight beside him, regardless of what would happen.

She'd stopped herself from snapping in time, answering his questions and telling him her story. She helped put on a brave face when he felt his falter. She risked her life to get them past Cerberus, and kept up a strong front the entire time they were in the Underworld. He had to admit Grover's occasional nervous bleating didn't help - but her slipping her hand in his and squeezing it now and again and they trudged past the darkness did.

 _"Because I'm your_ friend _, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"_

She was worth the benefit of the doubt.

Betrayal or not, he's never leaving her behind.

Before Percy could say anything, _anything_ to take away the agony he placed in her, Annabeth took a shaky breath and turned away from him.

"L-look... There's some s-strange going on." She definitely figured out that his trust in her was wavering. She was devastated.

His heart stung at her wavering tone. He'd made her feel this way.

The puzzle pieces came together; Hades had been as wrongly accused as he was. He had nothing to do with the stolen bolt. It was all for nothing. Percy knew they made a mistake coming here. They've fallen into a trap, and they had to leave before Hades figured out they were there.

Grover stepped closer and returned to his side silently. Annabeth had her back to them, so he couldn't offer her a comforting look, or give any indication that he didn't believe she could've been the thief.

"Someone's trying to put the big three against each other, and it's not Hades." Percy decided to say. They'll talk once they return to the surface. "And it is not Hades. We've got to get out of here before he finds us."

He took it his cue to grab Annabeth and pull her along, ignoring the shimmer of tears he caught flowing down her cheeks. Grover scampered after them, later running a small distance ahead to the direction they originally came from. They didn't managed to get far because unbeknownst to them, the god had been watching them the entire time.

After a talk with Hades and facing his substantial wrath, he demanded they surrender the bolt. He also demanded for his Helm of Darkness to be returned, accusing Percy of stealing it. When Percy refused and denied stealing anything, he showed him his mother's frozen form, in the exact same pose it was when she disappeared into gold dust. Hades threatened to kill Sally Jackson and reanimate the dead unless his helm was returned. Percy knew they had to escape.

But he only had three pearls, and he realized someone having to stay behind was the cost he had to pay for the magic.

Hades laughed, apparently finding it amusing that he was unable to protect the right amount of people. It dawned on his friends quickly enough about the problem at hand. Percy had to make the decision. He gave his mother a longing look full of sorrow, then turned to his friends, holding his palm out for them to take a pearl each.

Annabeth stepped back, an new kind of determination in her eyes. Then, when she offered to stay, potentially dooming herself to an eternity as Hades' servant - Percy knew he made a mistake to ever doubt her. She told him to save his mother, starting up an argument with Grover and coming up with convincing points over why it should be her.

Percy was having none of it.

In response, he shoved a pearl into her hands. His expression held a ferocity that burned. She opened her mouth, her face trying to match his, but he just closed her palm and held it like that. A silent request for her trust. She didn't dare argue.

Once they were all set, Percy screamed for them to throw the pearls at their feet and allowed a fog to take them away. Hades yelled after them, but true to their word, the pearl will protect the person, and they found themselves back at the surface soon enough.

Ares made his appearance, and the two dueled. Upon winning Percy retrieves the Helm of Darkness and returned it to Hades, getting his mother back. Later on, after arriving in New York, he sent Annabeth and Grover ahead to leave for camp without him as he made his way to Mount Olympus to return the master bolt to its rightful owner. Thankfully, Zeus was generous enough to give him his reward; not killing him.

The first thing Percy did when he got back at camp was to look for Annabeth. He ignored the burial shrouds made for them, and avoided praises and invitations to share their story. Instead when someone walked up to him, he'd ask for her. Somehow, no one had seen her.

Oh right, she can be invisible.

It took him several hours of searching, with him practically covering every inch of space in camp. It wasn't until a small sea turtle had decided to crawl over to him that he thought of asking creatures that aren't excitable demigods. The turtle told him where it had seen a girl matching Percy's description, and he returned the favor by helping it reach the ocean faster by summoning a wave to take it away.

To his relief, Annabeth had been on the beach the entire time. She'd found a well hidden spot among some large rocks, sitting on her own and staring out into the sea, her invisibility cap in hand. He wondered if she'd been there since she arrived at camp.

"Interesting location that reminded me of me to forget about me."

She startled, then glared at the sight of him. She pulled her bare legs up, resting her head on her knees. When he saw that she wasn't going to say anything, he climbed over the rocks and slid down next to her.

"Is it okay if I sit here?"

She just shrugged. No witty retort about how he was already in the space. It made him fill even guiltier than he already was.

He wished she'd just punch him or call him an idiot.

"My mom's back at our apartment." Percy said. "Hades gave her back."

Annabeth nodded in acknowledgement. "That's good."

"Yeah. I brought some cupcakes. Thought we could share some. I would offer it to Grover too but he'd just eat the container."

She didn't say anything. Annabeth continued to watch the waves lap around her toes, her observant eyes far away. He knew she wasn't thinking. She had this sad look on her face, instead of the usual sort of studious and ambitious look about them. Now all he could see was eerie wistfulness. From where he was sitting, he could see dried tear tracks on her cheeks and the puffiness around her eyes. Her scleras had a light tint of red, and the longer he stayed, he was sure her eyes were getting redder by the minute.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Percy asked. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he knew they weren't there yet. He had to fix this gap he'd created between them.

"About what?" Her head whipped around to look at him. She looked like she wanted to be angry, but her exhaustion made her look more wary than anything else.

Percy scratched the back of his neck, ashamed. "About what I said. Annabeth, I'm sorry about what I said."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" She sighed, massaging her temples as she felt a headache coming in. "You meant what you said, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't." Percy tried. She looked at him in disbelief. "I mean I did, for like a second, but I know it's not true."

Annabeth eyed him skeptically, "I don't know what made you think that you couldn't trust me, Percy. I already told you I don't care what our parents think about us. We don't have to be rivals. Besides -" She pushed her hair back from her face as a particularly strong wind blew her golden curls into her face. "-I'm not pathetic enough to endanger people just for a stupid, grim quest. In case you haven't noticed already, I'm trying to _not_ die."

He wasn't sure what to say. He knew why he thought it could've been her, but now it made less and less sense. So, to get her on the same page, he grabbed her hand to gain her attention, and started reciting the prophecy before she could protest.

" _You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,_  
_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_  
_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend,_  
_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end._ "

Annabeth gaped at him. She, too had spend the quest mulling over the few phrases he had given her. They couldn't really help themselves from doing that, especially Annabeth. Being the daughter of Athena, her mind goes a mile a minute, maybe even more.

She understood what he was implying before the last line had a chance to leave left his mouth.

"So you really thought I would betray you?"

Abashed, he nodded.

"Makes sense." Annabeth began. "I've wanted a quest for so long. Makes sense for me to use my invisibility cap during our last trip to Mount Olympus to steal the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness - on the off chance I'll get the quest to return the objects I stole. I'll potentially risk getting blasted to a million pieces and get sent off to Tartarus by the king of the gods himself, getting ripped away of my chances to spend afterlife in Elysium. Maybe if I get lucky they won't find out I was actually the thief and I won't get disowned by my mom. After all, the entire purpose of the quest was to prove myself to her."

Percy's eyes widened. "You're really not making yourself look good."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She managed to do it without looking at him. "I'm just being honest. Clearly your brain is too full of kelp for you to recognize the obvious."

"Are you actually admitting to it?"

She shoved him so hard he fell on his back.

"I don't believe you!" She fumed. "Seriously, after all we did together? Do you really think I would put our lives at risk and come close to dying so many times?"

He tried to get up, but Annabeth threw a punch to his shoulder and skirted away. "My dignity is still intact, thank you very much. Do you have any idea how many lives would be lost if a war took place? Do you think I would want that?"

Percy stayed down for a moment and looked over cautiously at her. Once he felt he was safe from her fists, he sat up, maintaining the distance Annabeth had formed.

"No." He answered. She didn't react. "I don't think you would want that."

"Of course not."

"I just, I guess I wasn't thinking."

"You never do."

He wanted to chuckle. _Yes, I never do._

"We still don't know what it means though." He admitted.

"Remember what I said about prophecies having double meanings?" Annabeth said. The analyzing look in her eyes was back, much to his relief. "This sounds like a strange meaning for it, but... what if it was talking about Ares?"

Percy scoffed. "Him? My friend?"

She emphasized with his quick rejection, so she didn't press. "-one who calls you friend." She quoted. "What if he considered you his friend at the beginning, despite all your _oh-so-favorable_ comments about him."

"I don't think that's it, Annabeth." Percy adjusted his seated position a bit to look at her better. "The first line is already about him."

"What if it's something he said in passing. Imagine this; someone asking him why he was talking to you and just answered with 'Oh just a friend,' I know a lot of people saw us with him at the diner." She twirled a strand of blond around her finger. "And, no one said a prophecy couldn't mention the same being twice."

Percy shook his head. Something told him that wasn't it.

She shrugged. "Then we don't have an answer. Maybe it'll reveal itself, in due time." She leaned back and looked up at the sunrise. "Maybe your quest isn't over yet."

He didn't want to believe that. Then his dreams about Kronos in the pit and the strangely familiar voice he heard would've just been dreams. Not all the puzzles were fitting together; there were still gaps and missing pieces, things that weren't making enough sense. His mom was back, and he found a place he belonged. He wanted time to freeze, for everything to be safe and predictable enough that he won't have to constantly worry about not failing exams and getting kicked out of schools.

It was nice to not feel like a useless, lost little kid.

"Or." Annabeth said suddenly. "The prophecy just told you want you wanted to think. Gods know if you actually don't like me around."

"That doesn't make any sense. You're just being petty."

"How childish." She kicked some seawater up at Percy. He let it hit his face before evaporating instantly. "Anyway, I'm out of ideas off the top of my head and I'm hungry. I'll check some books out later, maybe it'll give us answers."

Percy stood up before she could, just so he could hold a hand out to her to help her up. Annabeth responded with a glare and slapped his hand away.

"You don't have to be such a gentleman." She grumbled.

He didn't stop holding a hand out. When she noticed, she stared at him in genuine confusion.

"I'm still sorry. I'm sorry for making you feel like I don't trust you, and for hurting you." He resisted the urge to kick at the sand. "You're my friend and you had my back. I _do_ trust you."

She eyed him critically for a second before clasping his hand with hers. "Apology accepted." She smiled. Percy felt the air leave his lungs in relief. "I trust you too."

She climbed over the rocks and waited for Percy to land next to her before they started making their way back to camp.

Once the row of bizarre cabins came into view, Percy seemed to have remembered something.

"By the way, did you see your burial shroud? It's really pretty."

Annabeth looked flattered, but of course Percy couldn't let that happen.

"It's a shame we don't get to bury you with it." He said innocently.

"Oh my gods."

**Author's Note:**

> This story was born out of the fact that when I was younger and first read the book, I did actually consider Annabeth possibly being the friend that will betray Percy. There were several hints to it too, like when they were at the Golden Gate Bridge and there was this discussion about how Hades could've stolen Zeus' bolt by using his Helm of Darkness, at the same time comparing the object to Annabeth's cap. Annabeth was also so desperate for a quest to prove herself, and that alone could stand as a solid motive when developed further. It's very subtle, but the hints are all there. I guess it wasn't hinted heavily on because of it all being Percy's pov and he's not very perceptive at times. Anyway when the musical happened and there was this scene where Percy visibly considered Annabeth being the one that will betray him - brief as it was, I found it interesting. It hugely adds some development to their relationship and the continuous growth. 
> 
> and honestly they are my OTP, both platonically and romantically.
> 
> Mixed scenes:  
> \- They use pearls (book) instead of Percy blowing into a seashell to create a portal (musical)  
> \- Hades found them (musical) instead of them going to him (book)  
> \- Annabeth guessed the bolt's location (musical) instead of Hades sensing it in Percy's backpack and telling him to look there (book)  
> \- Percy wore the flying shoes (musical) instead of giving it to Grover (book)  
> \- Percy doubting Annabeth (musical) instead of never even considered the betrayal being from her (book)  
> \- Percy doesn't tell everyone the full prophecy (book)  
> \- If I'm not mistaken, Percy only shared the first two lines of his prophecy. If I'm wrong and he shared more, just pretend he never told anyone about the betrayal part for the sake of the fic  
> \- Everything from the moment they left the Underworld are from the books  
> \- +With some alterations and creative liberty from moi
> 
> ANYWAY yes, I read the books. I am well aware the musical changed a few things, and skipped over some scenes, but the overall plot wasn't all that different (unlike some certain two movies COUGH). The musical is great, the book is great, and in my opinion both compliment the other.
> 
> Let me know what you think. Feel free to drop any comments about what you like, maybe your opinions on the musical, how I can improve my writing etc etc-  
> This is all for fun!
> 
> Thank you for reading! It means a lot ^^


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